Becoming A Whole
by Lionheart Rising
Summary: They are already a unit; a whole. Now everyone else just wishes they would see it. In which Octavia and Jasper captain a ship, and their fearless leaders learn just what they can do together.


**Author's Note: Another Bellarke oneshot, since these two sort of rule my life. Posted on AO3 as well. If you're not fond of the Raven/Monty pairing, please don't stop reading, since they're not a huge focus; just some mentions here and there.**

**Enjoy, and please review!**

Bellamy doesn't know when he and Clarke fell into this weird domesticity. He actually woke up one morning, face buried in her hair and his arm around her waist and it felt… normal. Good. They're the leaders of this camp (there are two different ones now, close enough to trade but far enough that they lead their own lives) and he has come to rely very heavily on her judgment. They balance each other out: Clarke's logic and mercy to Bellamy's passion and spirit.

It hasn't been easy. Raven hasn't been able to walk since Murphy's bullet went through her spine, but between Monty, Jasper, and even Finn she never lacks a way to get around, and someone always has a cushion for her to sit on. Lincoln brought Octavia back months after everyone else really started to rebuild their lives; all of the inhabitants of the Ark on Earth, if not together. After a long conversation between Clarke and her mother, things are less tense than they would be otherwise. Though Abby Griffin lives primarily in the other camp, she and Clarke meet at least once a week (often more) to help continue Clarke's training as a medic. During these meetings, Abby treats Bellamy with the respect she would give any leader, but tempered with the same gentle affection she shows her own daughter. It feels nice.

Those who came from space manage to enter a sort of cohabitation with the Grounders. They coexist, even if they don't particularly like each other. Sometimes they even trade. But generally, each sticks to their own side of the river.

Bellamy works just as hard as he always has, but now he's got a family that extends beyond just his little sister. To be honest, the remaining original 100 are his family: Monty and Raven with their brilliance, Jasper with his surprising courage, even Finn, after they had to survive those three weeks with no one but each other when their people were taken by the Mountain Men. These are his people, but always at the center is Clarke.

She's his head and his heart, and he trusts her like he has never trusted anyone. He has her back, and she has his. And on Earth, sometimes that's the most important thing; someone who cares whether you live or die and is willing to watch out for you. He really doesn't know when he fell in love with her. Octavia once told him that he looked at her like she's the one who hung the moon and the stars, and he supposes it's true. Clarke is the one who makes sure he doesn't kill himself with making sure his people are looked after, such as making sure he takes a break when the houses are being built.

"Why, you worried about me Princess?" he asked with his usual smirk. Clarke rolled her eyes at the nickname, but paired it with a smile.

"Might be. Can't have my partner fainting." She smiled again and went back towards the drop-ship where their infirmary still is.

Someone 'ooh'-ed behind him and Bellamy turned to glare before going back to work. At supper that night he took his usual spot next to Clarke and pointedly ignored the looks everyone else gave each other.

Clarke thinks everyone is trying to get her and Bellamy together, and she's positive that Jasper and Octavia are the ones captaining the ship. It's almost painfully obvious when one day they get frequent messages supposedly from each other saying that the other is needed. By the sixth time, Clarke is fed up with the interruption to both of their work and loudly threatens to shoot the next messenger who tells her Bellamy needs her. Admittedly not her finest moment. (She does not acknowledge the double entendre.)

She and Bellamy eat supper later than everyone else that night, since they were interrupted all day. She grumbles about it to Bellamy and he runs a hand through his dark hair, just as exasperated as she is.

"Could have been worse. At least we weren't across camp from each other," is all he can say, taking a bite of his stew.

"Seriously though, we have better things to do than constantly leave the infirmary or the construction site," Clarke grumbles some more. "I'm not saying I'm going to kill your sister, but I may inflict some damage."

She can see Bellamy trying to hide a smirk at her comment.

"Okay, be honest Princess. Was it just me or did I hear about you threatening to shoot the next person who came to you for a stupid reason?" Clarke flushes and Bellamy nudges her with his elbow. She mumbles something about the heat of the moment and how she'd never actually do it. "Of course you wouldn't, Princess."

They finish their supper together, talking of the camp and all the projects going on, and Clarke is not afraid to admit that she enjoys his company. They've long since started sharing a tent – it was just more convenient – so when they've finished eating they head to bed.

Little do they know, but their closest friends (and Abby, who was there helping to see to a few patients) are watching the way Bellamy places his hand on Clarke's lower back, and the way she in turn leans into it. Their not-quite-fearless leaders deserve some happiness. (If that happiness can be found in one another, then all the better.)

Those constructing the houses tell Bellamy that the first is to be his. This, in turn, invites the rest of the people who have become his closest family, weird as it is. The second house is bigger, longer, and serves as a sort of barracks. When they have enough time to build houses for everyone it will most likely become a sort of lodge, but for now means that more people are out of the elements.

That winter is coming is evidenced by how cold it gets at night and in the mornings. Bellamy usually wakes up freezing, no matter how he tries to prevent it. His cabin mates start out spread throughout the room, but usually end up lumped together by morning. He would too but he's far less comfortable with it than everyone else.

One morning he actually wakes up warm, and he finds Clarke curled against his side, her head tucked under his chin. He doesn't really know how she ended up next to him, but he's certainly not complaining.

It's a little awkward when she wakes up, but not overly so, and they continue about their day without making a big deal about it. Everyone begrudgingly hands over rations or little trinkets to Raven, who just smirks and leans back against the wall where she and Monty have set up their workstation. Bellamy can't believe they actually made bets about something that stupid, but when Clarke smiles at him, he can't bring himself to really care.

After that, she sleeps by his side every night.

Winter is cold and miserable for Clarke. She's constantly trying to make tea to treat colds and works furiously on the cases of frostbite. Prevention would be better, but there's only so much they can do. It is their second winter on the ground, but the first they all have together, without Mountain Men and secret government facilities. At night people cram themselves into the drop-ship and the four buildings they have, and personal space becomes a thing of the past. There's always work to be done, but it finishes much earlier in the day.

Clarke is always on call as their camp's chief medic, but she gets to spend more time with the others in their small communal house. And with the moonshine still operators in residence, they have some truly fantastic times. (Clarke will never forget Monty and Raven's first kiss. Moonshine induced as it was, it is the beginning of something truly adorable.)

Despite their new sleeping arrangement, Clarke and Bellamy still aren't really together. They provide each other with much needed body warmth, but other than that they're nothing more than partners. (_They could be everything_, Clarke sometimes thinks.)

During the winter, trade with the Ark camp decreases to whenever there's not too much snow or it's not too cold to function outdoors. Winter itself is exhausting; the trudging through snow, having no energy, and a freeze that seeps through their clothes and into their bones. In addition to all the work she has, Clarke really just despises being cold. So much so that she literally tries to bury herself in Bellamy's side while they sleep, Octavia's not at all subtle looks in the morning be damned.

Her dependence on him sometimes frightens her, but she also wonders if maybe that's actually how it's supposed to be.

When spring finally comes it is with great relief and much celebration. Like the former (well, technically) delinquents they are, of course they have a party. A lot of the people from the other camp come, and moonshine flows freely. Bellamy is standing off to the side – he's never been able to let go of this constant awareness even when everyone else is getting shit-faced – when Clarke comes up to him. She's a little tipsy, and she leans up against the wall next to him.

"It feels different than our other parties," she says by way of a conversation starter. He nods.

"It does, doesn't it Princess."

"I think it's the moonshine," she whispers conspiratorially. "Monty and Jasper have gotten better."

"Well, they had lots of practice," he says with his customary smirk. Clarke groans and laughs at the subtle reminder of their winter activities. Bellamy looks back out over the party, over to where Monty is holding Raven while they're engaged in a heavy make-out session. "They're moving along quickly," he says, gesturing towards them. Clarke smiles.

"It's good. For both of them, you know? He's liked her for a while now; genius engineers and all."

"It's good. For them, I mean. Let's just hope they don't blow anything up."

"Bellamy," Clarke reprimands him with a stern look.

"What? It's a reasonable concern."

"Well, I didn't like the way you said it," Clarke says, almost giggling. Bellamy has long since discovered that either Clarke is a very happy drunk, or she's totally miserable. There has never been an in-between.

"You feeling alright, Princess?" he asks her.

"Just peachy," Clarke says. "What about you, Mr. Blake? Aren't you going to have any?"

"Oh, I think it's more important that someone make sure no one burns down the camp. Just because we don't all live in tents anymore doesn't make it less of a risk."

"Come on, Bellamy," Clarke whines, and he has to fight to hide his amusement. "Whatever the hell we want."

Bellamy has to laugh at that. Hearing her echo his motto from what feels like forever ago is kind of eerie, but also pretty funny. However misguided the words were then.

"I don't think so, Princess," Bellamy says. "Why don't you go on back to the others before they miss you. I hear you're pretty badass at all their drinking games."

"Oh, I am the queen," Clarke snorts.

She looks at him with an inscrutable expression on her face, and then she leans up to peck him on the cheek. It is very quick, her pressing of lips to his stubbly cheek, but it burns through him and warms him from the inside out. He glances around the camp to see if anyone saw. He spots Lincoln (who visits frequently because of Octavia) looking at him with a taken aback expression on his face, and Finn looks a bit shocked. Bellamy shifts his weight and looks away from the other two men, uncomfortable under their scrutiny.

For the rest of the night he can't stop thinking about Clarke and why she kissed him, even if it wasn't where he's been longing to kiss her. When he falls asleep that night with her tucked into his side, he decides that he doesn't really want to dwell on it too much.

Clarke wakes up the morning after their "it's not fucking cold anymore so let's party" celebration with a headache and a fuzzy tongue. As usual she's in Bellamy's – their – bed (which is really a pile of random blankets and furs, but technicalities don't matter) but what's odd is that he's not. Clarke always wakes up first (she's never told anyone that when she tries to extricate herself from Bellamy's arms in the morning, he tries to hold her tighter) so it's weird that he's not there. She's become used to their morning routine, and she's feeling a little sad that they're not doing it. Or, she would be feeling sad if the room wasn't burn your irises bright and her head felt less like it was going to explode.

She stumbles out into the light of day, and if she thought the cabin was bad it's nothing compared to the outside. She takes a savage sort of pleasure in seeing almost everyone else falling around just as much as she is. Bellamy is leaning against the wall next to the door eating an apple and he smirks when he sees her.

"Looking a bit pale, Princess," he informs her around a bite.

"Stop yelling," she almost begs him.

"Everyone's been saying that to me today," Bellamy says conversationally. He nods towards the nearest campfire. "Someone made tea; I don't know who. Not quite a hangover cure, but it's probably better than nothing."

"Oh thank God," Clarke murmurs, moving forward.

That day in camp is a quiet one, what with most people being hungover and there being very few who aren't. Those who aren't (Bellamy, Finn, and Raven, who can drink like a fish apparently) seem generally amused by everyone else; Raven goes out of her way to make fun of Monty and Jasper, Bellamy is constantly smirking at Clarke and Octavia, and Finn just sits back and watches. By afternoon everyone is back to normal, but no one wants to disturb the quiet. Clarke and Bellamy spend the afternoon discussing where and when they'll build the next houses in their small settlement.

By the time night falls, everyone turns in early. As Clarke and Bellamy lie in their bed with everyone else sleeping beside them, Bellamy turns to Clarke.

"So, I know you were drunk, but what exactly prompted you to kiss me on the cheek last night?" he whispers. Clarke blushes furiously, grateful for the dark so he won't see her.

"I never question what you do when you're drunk," Clarke says primly.

"I don't molest my unsuspecting co-leaders when I'm drunk," Bellamy points out, and Clarke can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Oh, like you felt molested," Clarke snorts. She does not want to admit that she is actually kind of enjoying their stupid argument.

"Hey, you're pretty intimidating," Bellamy says. "Have you met yourself?"

"You know, I can always go sleep over there," Clarke points out, moving as though she's about to get up.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere," Bellamy says, snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her into his side.

"And you're going to stop me?" Clarke challenges him.

"You don't want to –"

"Will you two stop with the pillow talk," Raven asks them loudly from her place beside Monty. "You can be cute and romantic tomorrow."

"We're not romantic," Clarke and Bellamy say in unison.

"Sure you aren't," Raven says skeptically. Everyone lies down to sleep after that.

Neither leader will admit to anyone (including themselves) that Raven is right.

It turns out that Monty and Raven end up being the first couple married on the ground.

On a crisp fall day, they stand under what quickly thereafter becomes dubbed the Marriage Tree. Well, Raven sits on the only real chair in the settlement and Monty kneels in front of her. Like on the Ark, it's a private agreement between the couple, but anyone who cares (which in this case is everybody) stands about twenty feet away. It's really more of a formality; even on the Ark the real acknowledgment of marriage happened when you requested to consolidate your living spaces (so romantic, they all know). But the symbolism was important. On the Ark, the marriage ceremony – if you can call it that – always took place in front of that small tree that Vera Kane took care of. They all probably scorned the tree at some point, but most everyone on the Ark was something of a traditionalist.

Bellamy and Clarke stand next to each other, looking at the couple in front of them. Both are clean, and Raven is wearing a flower crown (Octavia insisted on it for reasons nobody understands) and they look so in love.

"Look at us," Clarke whispers to Bellamy. "We came down here thinking we wouldn't last a few weeks, and now we're watching the resident geniuses get married."

"We did good here, Princess," Bellamy says, echoing Clarke's own words back to her. They seem to do that a lot: quote each other.

"We did," Clarke replies. It's not smug, or a question, or emotional in any way. It's a mere statement of fact.

Monty and Raven do the traditional kiss, to whoops and cheers (among the loudest is Jasper) from the awaiting crowd. Monty sweeps Raven up – you wouldn't know it to look at him, but he's actually quite strong – and carries her over to join the rest of them.

The camp parties that night, and when the newlyweds excuse themselves to their small, recently built cabin for the night everyone wolf-whistles and calls out stupid advice. Clarke and Bellamy laugh when Raven gestures rudely, and they turn to each other so they can both appreciate the moment together. They find their faces suddenly closer together than they had anticipated, and neither can look away. At the same time they both lean in, and then there's nothing but each other. Not the sounds of the others' drunken antics, not the whispers of the wind or the crackling of the fire; there is only each other, and the frantic beatings of their hearts.

When they pull away, they both realize that there's not going back from what they just did. And they don't care. They lean in again, and their kissing is more frantic, more urgent. They break apart and stand, heading off into the woods away from the others.

There's something almost nervous, a hesitancy as they undress each other that is soon overshadowed by just how much they want. When they climax, it is with the other's name on their lips. As they lie catching their breath in the cool fall air, Clarke breaks the silence.

"This changes everything," she says quietly, as though afraid he will leave her.

"Good," Bellamy answers, drawing her in for another kiss.

After that, everything and nothing changes. There is the subtlest of shifts in the way they treat each other in front of the others. They never explicitly say that they are 'together', but they think people suspect. There is a new layer to the respect they show each other, but unless someone is looking for it they probably wouldn't notice.

They get caught about a month after Raven and Monty get married; of course it just had to be Octavia, who squeals before announcing it to everyone. Goods exchange hands – again with the gambling? – and everyone applauds their red faced leaders.

"At least they know now," Bellamy says with a shrug. (He's somewhat pleased that he doesn't have to worry about them flirting with his princess anymore.)

"True enough," Clarke concedes before lighting up. "Which means I can do this."

She pulls him down and into a deep kiss, and just like the first time, it's like everything else around them disappears. Bellamy is definitely okay with everyone knowing.

That winter is no better and no worse than the last, and though they're somewhat limited in where they can have sex – they're not about to do it with the others sleeping just a few feet away, and it's really freaking cold outside – they manage to find places. With every kiss, Clarke becomes more and more certain that Bellamy Blake is the only one for her. She loves him and she trusts him, the way she knows she could never trust Finn after the whole debacle with Raven, and she knows Bellamy feels the same way about her.

It's kind of weird, the dependency Clarke knows she has on him, but then, shouldn't she be horrified at the thought of losing him? It makes sense to her that when you really love someone, you shouldn't want to live without them. That's part of the reason she doesn't think she'll ever fully forgive her mother; obviously Abby didn't love her father enough or she would never have turned him in.

All of her doubts disappear whenever Bellamy smiles at her, because his smile lights up his eyes and makes him look younger than he's been since they floated his mother and took Octavia away from him. That smile just makes her want to kiss him again. So she does.

They get married on a warm spring day. Both are dressed in their everyday clothes, though they're clean, and Octavia pulled the same trick she did with Raven and has Clarke in an elegant flower crown.

The ceremony – if you can call it that – is basically the same as Monty and Raven's, and their entire camp is standing as close as they are allowed. Jasper and Octavia are accepting goods from everyone around them and Finn is smiling. When they seal their marriage with a kiss, a loud cheer goes up. Bellamy and Clarke are laughing and smiling, foreheads pressed together even while Octavia pulls Lincoln down so she can kiss him deeply, and Monty picks Raven up from her chair so he can spin her around.

"All hail the king and queen!" Jasper yells and the newlyweds roll their eyes as a loud cheer goes up from the crowd. Clarke is blushing furiously and Bellamy is smiling and he looks down at her.

"Well Princess, looks like we're not getting out of this."

"And why would I want to do that?" Clarke asks him airily, shrieking when he sweeps her up into his arms. Apparently Monty started a tradition.

Like all of their parties, their wedding reception is loud and ruckus, with moonshine flowing freely. Bellamy and Clarke are subjected to a motley of old traditions: her left hand and his right have been bound together, and they're expected to kiss every time cups are clinked, to name just a few. They put up with their people's antics (partially because this is the first celebration they've had since the fall) but neither can wait to get back to their house. The others moved out as soon as it was warm enough, and Bellamy suspects they didn't do it because they wanted to sleep outside.

When they go to bed, they stand somewhat awkwardly in the silence of their home. He and Clarke have been having sex for a year now, and sharing a bed for longer, but tonight is different. Clarke is his wife now; they belong to each other. Each touch is an 'I love you', every kiss says 'forever'. As he falls asleep afterward, Clarke pulled flush against him, he thinks that he could definitely get used to this.

They've been married for five months when Clarke tells Bellamy that she's pregnant. She's a little nervous, but so, so happy, and she shrieks and laughs when he picks her up so he can spin her around.

"We're going to be parents?" he says incredulously, as though he can't believe his luck. Clarke nods happily. Their child won't be the first – others have been settling down periodically and have been pregnant for longer – but there's something so very exciting about a baby of their own. "Well, one thing's for sure," Bellamy says after a moment of silence. "You are not overexerting yourself for any reason from now on."

He groans in mock pain when Clarke shoves him.

Clarke tries to bite back her cries of pain but she can't. She's soaked with sweat and exhausted and she just wants this thing out of her. Her mother and Octavia are telling her she's doing a great job, but she focuses on the feel of Bellamy's hand in hers and his quiet encouragement.

She pushes once more, harder, and that's it. She sobs in exhaustion, pain and euphoria, and falls back on the bed. Bellamy presses his lips to her forehead over and over, still holding her hand in his. Octavia ties off the umbilical cord and cleans up their baby – they have a baby! – before placing it in Clarke's arms.

"It's a girl," Octavia tells them joyfully, and Clarke can't stop laughing and sobbing.

"What are we going to name her?" Bellamy asks, and he sounds just as happy, just as emotional as Clarke does.

"Her name is Aurora," Clarke says with a finality that makes Bellamy's heart clench and Octavia cover her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Thank you," Bellamy whispers into Clarke's hair. "She's so beautiful."

Just then, Aurora opens her eyes and blinks once before closing them again. She's got a thatch of Bellamy's dark hair, and his darker skin and freckles, but her eyes are Clarke's smoky blue. Abby and Octavia leave the young family alone, with promises to help Clarke bathe after an hour's rest and Bellamy accepts the small bundle of his daughter when Clarke passes her up to him.

"Looks like you've got another princess now," Clarke says sleepily and Bellamy chuckles softly.

"You'll always be my princess."

He lies down beside her, their daughter in between them and looks over at his wife. She's sleeping peacefully, and he knows that life cannot get much better than this.

In time, the camp grows into something of a town, with people pairing off and children being born. Aurora is joined by Jake, and then Wells. In the end, the only thing that really matters to them is that they have their family and that their people are safe. What more could they possibly want?


End file.
